Article December 31, 2001 Issue

Spirit, not alcohol

Original in Portuguese

By Orlando Trentini

A Busy Life , numerous activities, the pressure of problems that come up, uncertainties about the future—all these can lead a person to a search for relief. The "happy hour," going out with friends after work, may look like a legitimate way to find this relief.

What happens, however, is that these outings center on alcohol. Advertising constantly presents drinking as a remedy for all the pressures of modern living.

During a television program I saw, a comment was made that 25 percent of all available hospital beds are occupied by people involved in accidents caused by alcohol, or who are ill because of alcohol. The program said that this number is much too large, and that it represents a very high cost, not only for the individual and his or her family, but for society as well.

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